Ecuador and the Galapagos photos: 2010

Click on the small picture to see a larger, more detailed version. I toured Ecuador in November 2010 with a pre-trip to the Galapagos. I also toured North-west Ecuador in November 2013. The weather was good much of the time, but many of the inland Ecuador photos suffered from a lack of light due to the thick forests and/or rain. Most of the photos were taken with a Canon camera with 100-400mm zoom lens, but I also use a Nikon point-and-shoot for scenery.. The trip was very enjoyable and was led by Jan Hansen (dba Otus Asio Tours otusasiotours@bellsouth.net). He leads a variety of trips, all of which I would recommend. The Galapagos extension was arranged by Jan but led by the guide and crew of Nemo II.

The Galapagos

The Galapagos is a set of volcanic islands 1000 km east of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. The wildlife there was decimated by early sailors, but is being restored and very actively protected now. The pre-trip was on the 22-meter catamaran Nemo II with visits twice a day to islands mostly on the eastern side of the Galapagos. The western side is where the active volcanos are located, so the eastern islands are much older and vegetated at some level. The Galapagos are known as the inspiration for Charles Darwin's Origin of Species describing natural evolution. The 13 species of "Darwin Finches" are widely thought to be the most important. However, Darwin did not keep accurate records of the islands from which he collected the finches. It was the Mockingbirds, for which he did keep accurate records, that were the actual inspiration of his ideas. Some of the birds we saw are very rare: Lava Gulls are down to about 400 breeding pairs and Charles Mockingbirds have been reduced to 57 individuals on Champion Islet off Floreana Island.

Mainland Ecuador

Ecuador is a small country with a vast number of birds. The capital is Quito located at an elevation of about 9000 feet. From there we drove east to Andes peaks as high as 13000 and even 14000 feet. Then we continued east and downhill to 2 different lodges at intermediate elevations. Finally we drove to Coca (Puerto Francisco de Orellana just at the right side of the first map at top) and took a "canoe" east on the Napo River to a side river and paddled up that to the Napo Wildlife Center. All trips from there required canoes although some let us walk on dry land for portions of the trip.